Nintendo fails to explain latest crediting omission, insists it ‘believes in giving proper credit’

Nintendo has released a statement in response to players noticing that its Switch Donkey Kong remaster has removed all original developers from its credits.

Released this week, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD was ported by Forever Entertainment. However, Retro Studios developers, who created the original game, are not named in the game’s end credits. Instead, they’re represented by a message reading: “Based on the work of the original development staff.”

Now, a Nintendo spokesperson has responded to the omission, stating that it values the contributions of “all staff”, but failing to explain why it decided to remove Returns’ original devs from its own credits.

“We believe in giving proper credit for anyone involved in making or contributing to a game’s creation, and value the contributions that all staff make during the development process,” it told Eurogamer.

This isn’t the first time Nintendo has omitted the original developers from the credits of a remaster, nor the first time it’s happened with a Retro Studios title.

In February 2023, developers involved in the making of Metroid Prime criticised Nintendo’s decision to essentially remove them from the credits of Switch port Metroid Prime Remastered.

The issue of properly crediting developers in video games has rumbled on for several years, with numerous companies having been criticised for not giving proper credits to their creators.

With no real regulation beyond International Game Developers Association (IDGA) guidelines – which aren’t enforceable – game developers are effectively at the mercy of their employers as to how, where or if they’re credited. IGDA guidelines advise that anybody who has worked on a game’s development for 30 days (or 5%) must be credited.

VGC’s Donkey Kong Country Returns HD review calls the game “a fine, if unessential Switch remaster”.

“With improved presentation and controls, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is the definitive version of a classic platformer,” we wrote. “Though it lacks the variety and bold ideas of its sequel, and offers little new content, it’s a worthwhile experience for those who missed it the first time around.”